The myths and legends of most cultures include creatures that appear as humans but are remarkably strong and huge in size. We call these creatures 'Giants'. In popular fairytales, Giants are sometimes violent and enjoy eating people, especially children. One such example is the ogre in the story of 'Jack and the Beanstalk'.

4J performed their own version of the story for us.

Jack was a poor boy whose lack of common sense often drove his mother to despair. One day she sent him to market to sell their last and only possession, a cow. But, along the way, Jack met a stranger who offered to trade the cow for five magic beans. Jack accepted the offer and ran home.

Sadly, Jack's mother was not pleased with his deal. She threw the beans out of the window and wondered what she was going to do with Jack, who didn't seem to get anything right.

Overnight, however, the seeds grew into a gigantic beanstalk. It reached so far into the sky that the top hen completely out of sight. When Jack got up the next morning and saw the enormous plan, he couldn't wait to climb it and see how far it went.

Eventually he reached the top and realised it must be the home of a giant. Naughty Jack broke into the Giant's castle but was scared out of his wits when he heard a booming voice.

"Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum!
I smell the blood of an Englishman.
Be he alive or be he dead
I'll grind his bones to make my bread."

The Giant's wife helped Jack to escape and, as he left, he took some gold coins with him. Back at home, Jack and his mother celebrated their newfound fortune.

But their luck did not last and Jack climbed the beanstalk again. This time he stole a hen that laid golden eggs. Again he had to be saved by the Giant's wife, as the Giant had smelt a human.

Before long, Jack grew bored and longed for another adventure, so he decided to climb the beanstalk once more. This time he stole a magic harp, which called out to the Giant for help.

The Giant chased the boy down the beanstalk, but Jack got to the ground before the Giant. Immediately, he chopped down the beanstalk with an axe and the Giant fell to earth, hitting the ground so hard that it split, pulling the beanstalk down with him.

Happily, some storybook Giants are shown as intelligent and friendly like the BFG created by Roald Dahl, and the Forest Giant in 'Watch Out for the Giant Killers'.

In 'Harry Potter', Olympe Maxime and Hagrid are half-giants, while Hagrid's brother, Grawp, is a full-blooded giant. In 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', the giant Rumblebuffin is revived by Aslan to fight the White Witch.

Are Giants only in people's imanginations, though? Human giants are people who are 7 feet 5 inches or more in height, and skeletons have been found that have been 10 feet tall! There are people living today who have grown to extraordinary heights.

Liverpool even had its own giant. His name was John Middleton, who was born in 1578. He is known as the Childe of Hale, and he had grown to 9 feet 3 inches in height before he was 20. His portrait can be seen in Speke Hall.

The Old Testament of the Bible tells us about a young boy who confronts a giant and wins. Everyone thought that the task of fighting Goliath would be too much for a slight young boy, but David proved them wrong and killed the giant with a stone and a sling.

His determination to face the giant and overcome his fears show us that, with courage, we too can face our giants and overcome things that seem to big for us to face.